place, I jumped
out upon the beach and was soon followed by the Captain.

INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES.

They evinced a considerable deal of uneasiness at first, and looked with
much jealousy at the gun as something suspicious. They wished me to part
with it, but I sat down and intimated that I would keep it on the ground
beside me. I addressed them in the Swan River native language, and they
spoke much in return, but I must say that our language seemed to be
mutually unintelligible. At last, by watching their mode of intonation,
and accommodating myself to their dialect, I managed to succeed a little
better. In this way they understood my inquiries for water, and their
answer at last was precisely in the Swan River language, "Gaipbi jeral,"
(water to the north.) Their great anxiety at first seemed to be to know
whether we were women. In answer I pointed to our beards, when they
pulled their beards and said, "Nanya patta," by which name I have heard
it called at Swan River also. Then they pointed to some young lads in the
boat and asked were they women. No; I said they were "golambiddy" (boys)
which they seemed to understand. I saw them eating the fruit of the
mesembryanthemum (the Hottentot fig) but they did not understand either
of the names used for it at Swan River, golboys, or mejaruk. They called
it by a different name. After a little they volunteered to take us to
water, and we walked along the beach with them, clustering about us with
a show of friendship that was even more familiar than agreeable. One of
them repeatedly asked me were we dead? at least so I understood him. At
length we approached the opening of the river, in which they indicated
the water to be, but how were our great hopes disappointed when they led
us to a little hole scraped in the bed of the river containing about a
pint of water. We afterwards saw several other holes of the same sort
with more or less water in them; and it will be well to bear in mind that
some of these were not fifty yards from the beach, and it is quite
possible that if they were dug out a good supply of water might be
obtained.

ADVANCE INTO THE COUNTRY.

They then wished us to go up the valley of the river with them, but we
ascended a high hill to the north side, being desirous of getting a view
and in hopes of seeing the large estuary pencilled on the chart by
Captain Grey. From this hill we had an extensive view of all the country
to the west and north of the Menai Hil