w a native woman
steal into the hut, when he drew the door to by a line which communicated
with his place of concealment. Of the treatment this poor woman received
from the hands of her captor I shall treat hereafter. After being kept a
prisoner some time, she was sent to Flinders Island; but it was long
before the discovery was made that she had any companions. I was informed
that the shepherd who took her, afterwards lost his life by the spear of
a native, probably impelled by revenge.

(*Footnote. The fondness exhibited by the aborigines who inhabit the
southern parts of Australia for smoking is extraordinary.)

SAIL FOR THE RIVER TAMAR.

We completed our operations on the evening of the day on which we
arrived, namely, December 18th, and left for the Tamar river, in order to
measure a meridian distance. Passing six miles from Rocky Cape, we had 28
fathoms; and steering east, the depth gradually increased to 42 fathoms,
with a soft muddy bottom, being then twenty miles North-West by West from
Port Dalrymple, the mouth of the Tamar.

The 19th was one of the few fine days it was our good fortune to meet
with, and we enjoyed a splendid view of the Alpine features of Tasmania.
Towering peaks connected sometimes by high tablelands, glittered in the
sun as if capped with snow.*

(*Footnote. Near Hobart, in February 1836, I saw snow on the side of a
mountain.)

PORT DALRYMPLE.

Early in the afternoon, the lighthouse on Low Head appeared like a white
speck resting on the blue horizon; and by evening we found ourselves at
anchor just within the reefs fronting the west entrance point of Port
Dalrymple. The first appearance of the Tamar river is not very inviting
to the seaman. A rapid stream, thrown out of its course, hemmed in by
numerous reefs, and passing over a bottom so uneven as to cause a change
in the soundings from 12 to 26, and then 18 fathoms, with a ripple or
line of broken water across the mouth renders it impossible in strong
North-West winds for a stranger to detect the channels, and raises so
much sea that the pilots cannot reach the vessels that arrive off the
mouth.

As the Beagle passed through the west channel, the shear or first beacon
on the west reefs was on with a round-topped hill some distance up the
river. Although there is very apparent difficulty in navigating the
Tamar, still the first glance shows it to be a stream of importance. Its
valley, although not wide, may be traced for miles ab