h more so than the shores of Van Diemen's Land
are; and it thus often happens that strangers are agreeably disappointed
by finding extreme richness and fertility in many parts of a country,
which at their first landing afforded no such promises of excellence.
One of the most dreary and most curious descriptions of country is to
be met with on the north-western shores of New Holland, quite on the
opposite coast to that where the principal English colony is situated.
The daring explorer of this north-western coast, Captain Grey, has
given a fearful account of his dangers and adventures among the barren
sandstone hills of this district. Its appearance, upon his landing at
Hanover Bay, was that of a line of lofty cliffs, occasionally broken by
sandy beaches; on the summits of these cliffs, and behind the beaches,
rose rocky sandstone hills, very thinly wooded. Upon landing, the shore
was found to be exceedingly steep and broken; indeed the hills are
stated to have looked like the _ruins of hills_, being composed of huge
blocks of red sandstone, confusedly piled together in loose disorder,
and so overgrown with various creeping plants, that the holes between
them were completely hidden, and into these one or other of the party
was continually slipping and falling. The trees were so small and so
scantily covered with leaves that they gave no shelter from the heat of
the sun, which was reflected by the soil with intense force, so that it
was really painful to touch, or even to stand upon, the bare sandstone.
Excessive thirst soon began to be felt, and the party, unprepared for
this, had only two pints of water with them, a portion of which they
were forced to give to their dogs; all three of these, however, died of
exhaustion. After a vain search of some hours, at length the welcome cry
of "Water!" was heard from one of the party; but, alas! upon scrambling
down the deep and difficult ravine where the water ran, it was found to
be quite salty, and they were compelled to get up again as well as they
could, unrefreshed and disheartened. After following the course of the
deep valley upwards about half a mile, they looked down and saw some
birds ascending from the thick woods growing below, and, knowing these
white cockatoos to be a sure sign of water very near, the weary party
again descended, and found a pool of brackish water, which, in their
situation, appeared to afford the most delicious draughts, although they
shortly afterwa