traversed, is shallow and sandy, and its productions meagre
and wretched. When forced to quit the sand, we were condemned to drag
through morasses, or to clamber over rocks, unrefreshed by streams, and
unmarked by diversity. Of the soil I brought away several specimens.

Our first expedition having so totally failed, the governor resolved to try
the fate of a second; and the 'painful pre-eminence' again devolved on me.

The orders under which I was commanded to act differing in no respect
from the last, I resolved to try once more to surprise the village
beforementioned. And in order to deceive the natives, and prevent them
from again frustrating our design by promulgating it, we feigned that our
preparations were directed against Broken Bay; and that the man who
had wounded the governor was the object of punishment. It was now also
determined, being full moon, that our operations should be carried on in
the night, both for the sake of secrecy, and for avoiding the extreme heat
of the day.

A little before sun-set on the evening of the 22nd, we marched. Lieutenant
Abbot, and ensign Prentice, of the New South Wales corps, were the two
officers under my command, and with three sergeants, three corporals, and
thirty privates, completed the detachment.

We proceeded directly to the fords of the north arm of Botany Bay, which we
had crossed in our last expedition, on the banks of which we were compelled
to wait until a quarter past two in the morning, for the ebb of the tide.
As these passing-places consist only of narrow slips of ground, on each
side of which are dangerous holes; and as fording rivers in the night is at
all times an unpleasant task, I determined before we entered the water,
to disburthen the men as much as possible; that in case of stepping wrong
every one might be as ready, as circumstances would admit, to recover
himself. The firelock and cartouche-box were all that we carried, the
latter tied fast on the top of the head, to prevent it from being wetted.
The knapsacks, etc. I left in charge of a sergeant and six men, who from
their low stature and other causes, were most likely to impede our march,
the success of which I knew hinged on our ability, by a rapid movement, to
surprise the village before daybreak.

The two rivers were crossed without any material accident: and in pursuit
of my resolution, I ordered the guides to conduct us by the nearest route,
without heeding difficulty, or impediment of r