grave, and the tall palm tree bends to the melancholy wind
that sighs above it. As I paid his memory the tribute due to his many
virtues and his early death, I breathed a prayer that the still and
placid beauty of the spot where his mortal remains return to their
kindred dust, may typify the tranquil happiness of that world of spirits
with which his own is now united!

MR. "VERY WELL DICE."

On the afternoon of Friday the 25th, we left the magnificent bay of
Bahia, and after obtaining an offing, stood away to the southward and
eastward. I was much amused by a story of Grey's a day or two after we
sailed: it seems he had mistaken the Quartermaster's usual call in
conning the ship of "Very well, dice" (a corruption of "very well, thus")
for a complimentary notice of the man at the helm; and anxious to know
the individual who so distinguished himself, had two or three times gone
on deck to see "Mr. Very well Dice:" finding a different helmsman each
time, completely confounded him; and when I explained the matter, he
joined me in a hearty laugh at the mistake!

CHAPTER 1.3. FROM THE CAPE TO SWAN RIVER.

A gale.
Anchor in Simon's Bay.
H.M.S. Thalia.
Captain Harris, and his Adventures in Southern Africa.
Proceedings of the Land Party.
Leave Simon's Bay.
An overloaded ship.
Heavy weather and wet decks.
Island of Amsterdam.
Its true longitude.
St. Paul's.
Water.
Westerly variation.
Rottnest Island.
Gage's Road.
Swan River Settlement.
Fremantle.
An inland lake.
Plans for the future.
Illness of Captain Wickham.
Tidal Phenomena.
Perth.
Approach to it.
Narrow escape of the first settlers.
The Darling Range.
Abundant Harvest.
Singular flight of strange birds.
Curious Cliff near Swan River.
Bald Head.
Mr. Darwin's Theory.
The Natives.
Miago.
Anecdotes of Natives.
Their Superstitions.
Barbarous traditions, their uses and their lessons.

We had, upon the whole, a favourable passage across to the Cape; but on
the 17th of September, when distant from it about 500 miles, we
encountered a moderate gale from the north. As this was the first heavy
weather we had experienced since our departure from England, I was
curious to see what effect such a strange scene would have on our
passengers. Wrapt in mute astonishment, they stood gazing with admiration
and awe on the huge waves as they rolled past, occasionally immersing our
little vessel in their white crests--and listening, with emotions not
wholly devoid of fe