MR. USBORNE WOUNDED. 79 it, the party were returning to the boats, when, from the accidental explosion of a musket in the hand of one of the party, a ball entered Mr. Usborne's right side, near the spine, between the lower rib and hip bone, making an exit in a line with the navel. This truly unfortunate circumstance-which for some weeks deprived the expedition of the services of a most valuable officer-occurred about 10 o'clock A.M., but the time and trouble of carrying the sufferer through the mud to the boats, and then pulling some 15 miles, made it near 6 o'clock before he was on board and under the charge of Mr. Bynoe: we were all shocked to see our companion lifted apparently lifeless into the vessel he had so recently quitted full of health, and animated by an anxious desire to do all in his power to conduce to the general success; but were ere long assured by Mr. Bynoe, whose personal or professional merits need no eulogium from me-and who immediately and most carefully attended our wounded messmate—that the best results might be reasonably hoped for: a prediction shortly afterwards happily verified. At the time this unlucky accident occurred, some twenty natives rushed from the concealment whence they had been doubtless watching all the proceedings of the party, as though they designed to bear a part in what probably seemed to them, as poor Usborne went down, an approaching fray: however, the sight of the two boats in the distance, which upon deploying they had full in view, deterred them from acting 80 LOADED PISTOLS LEFT BEHIND. upon any hostile intentions, supposing such to have existed in their minds. The accident, however, and their sudden appearance, could only serve additionally to flurry the little party who had to convey their disabled officer to a place of safety, and Mr. Helpman, who may well be pardoned the want of his usual self-possession at such a moment, left behind a pair of loaded pistols. They would puzzle the savages greatly of course, but I hope no ill consequences ensued: if they began pulling them about, or put them in the fire, the better to separate the wood and iron, two or three poor wretches might be killed or maimed for life, and their first recollections of the "Quibra men," as Miago calls us, would naturally be any thing but favourable. Thus disastrously terminated our examination of Roebuck Bay, in which the cheering reports of former navigators, no less than the tenor of our hydrographical instructions had induced us to anticipate the discovery of some great water communication with the interior of this vast Continent. A most thorough and careful search-in which every one seemed animated one common and universal sentiment, prompting all to a zealous discharge of duty-had clearly demonstrated that the hoped-for river must be sought elsewhere: and that very fact which at first seemed to lessen the probabilities of ultimate success, served rather to inspire than to daunt; since while it could not shake our reliance upon the opinions of those best qualified to decide, 66 81 that such a river must ultimately be discovered, it only narrowed the ground upon which energy, knowledge, and perseverance had yet to undergo their probation, ere they enjoyed their reward! Our intercourse with the natives had been necessarily of the most limited character, hardly amounting to anything beyond indulging them with the sight of a new people, whose very existence, notwithstanding the apathetic indifference with which they regarded us, must have appeared a prodigy. What tradition may serve to hand down the memory of our visit to the third generation, should no newer arrival correct its gathering errors, and again restore some vestige of the truth, it is hardly possible to imagine; but should any misfortune follow their possession of Mr. Helpman's pistols, that in particular will be narrated as the motive for the visit of those white men who came flying upon the water, and left some of the secret fire upon the peaceful coast: and when again the white sails of the explorer glisten in the distant horizon, all the imaginary terrors of the "Boyl-yas,"* will be invoked to avert the coming of those who bring with them the unspeakable blessings of Christian civilization. The natives in the neighbourhood of Swan River give this name to their Sorcerers. CHAPTER V. FROM ROEBUCK BAY TO SKELETON POINT. DEPARTURE FROM ROEBUCK BAY-APPEARANCE OF THE TO THE NORTHWARD-HILLS AND COUNTRY-PROGRESS CLIFFS FRENCH NAMES AND FRENCH NAVIGATORSTASMAN, AND HIS ACCOUNT OF THE NATIVES-" HAZEYGAEYS AND ASSAGAIS"-HIS AUTHENTICITY AS AN HISTORIAN-DESCRIPTION PROAS, OF THE NATIVES-MARKS AND MUTILATIONS -PHRENOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT -MORAL -MUTILATION OF THE HAND-NATIVE "SMOKES" SEEN MOVE FURTHER TO THE N.E.-POINT EMERIAU-CAPE LEVÊQUE-POINT SWAN-TIDE RACES-SEARCH FOR WATER -ENCOUNTERED BY NATIVES-RETURN ΤΟ THE SHIPTHE ATTEMPT RENEWED-CONDUCT OF THE NATIVESEFFECT OF A CONGREVE ROCKET AFTER DARK-A SUCCESSFUL HAUL-MORE NATIVES-MIAGO'S HEROISM-THE PLAGUE OF FLIES-DAMPIER'S DESCRIPTION OF IT-NATIVE HABITATIONS-UNDER WEIGH-WIND AND WEATHERTIDAL PHENOMENON-NATURAL HISTORY-SINGULAR KANGAROO BUSTARD CINNAMON KANGAROO GUANAS AND LIZARDS-ANT HILLS-FISHING OVER THE SIDE-A DAY IN THE BUSH-A FLOOD OF FIRE-SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS-WHITE IBIS CURIOUS TREE-RAIN WATER-GEOLOGY OF THE CLIFFS-WEIGH, AND GRAZE A ROCK, OR TOUCH AND GO"- THE TWINS-SUNDAY QUAILS DEPARTURE FROM ROEBUCK BAY. STRAIT-ROE'S GROUP 83 MIAGO AND HIS FRIENDS-A BLACK DOG-A DAY OF REST-NATIVE RAFT-CAPTAIN KING AND THE BATHURST-A GALE-POINT CUNNINGHAM -SUCCESSFUL SEARCH FOR WATER-NATIVE ESTIMATION OF THIS FLUID-DISCOVERY OF A SKELETON-AND ITS REMOVAL-THE GREY IBIS-OUR PARTING LEGACY. January 22, 1838.-SATISFIED that no inland communication could be expected from Roebuck Bay, we weighed in the early part of the morning, and stood away to the northward. Roebuck Bay, so named to commemorate the name of Dampier's ship, is about sixteen miles across: the southern shores are low, and extensive sand banks and mud flats are bared at low water. Near the N.E. point of the bottom of this bay, is a curious range of low cliffs, from twenty to thirty feet high, and strongly tinged with red, in such a manner as to suggest that they must be highly impregnated with oxide of iron. In the neighbourhood of these cliffs the country had a more fertile, or rather a less desolate appearance, stretching out into extensive plains, lightly timbered with various trees of the genus Eucalypti, while, on the south shore of the bay, the mangroves were numerous. Towards the afternoon we discovered a small inlet, being then about 30 miles from our former anchorage in Roebuck Bay. We steered directly for it, and when within half a mile of its mouth, we had, at high water, six fathoms. From the masthead I could trace distinctly the course of |