d ourselves
sought and pursued by them, should conclude their designs to be inimical;
but if, on the contrary, we saw them quietly employed in occupations
which had no reference to us, curiosity would get the better of fear; and
after observing them more closely, we should ourselves seek a
communication. Such seemed to have been the conduct of these Australians;
and I am persuaded that their appearance on the morning when the tents
were struck was a prelude to their coming down, and that had we remained
a few days longer, a friendly communication would have ensued. The way
was, however, prepared for the next ship which may enter this port, as it
was to us in King George's Sound by captain Vancouver and the ship
Elligood, to whose previous visits and peaceable conduct we were most
probably indebted for our early intercourse with the inhabitants of that
place. So far as could be perceived with a glass, the natives of this
port were the same in personal appearance as those of King George's Sound
and Port Jackson. In the hope of conciliating their good will to
succeeding visitors, some hatchets and various other articles were left
in their paths, or fastened to stumps of the trees which had been cut
down near our watering pits.

In expressing an opinion that these people have no means of passing the
water, it must be understood to be a deduction from our having met with
no canoe, or the remains of any about the port; nor with any tree in the
woods from which a sufficient size of bark had been taken to make one.
Upon Boston Island, however, there were abundant marks of fire; but they
had the appearance, as at Thistle's Island, of having been caused by some
conflagration of the woods several years before, rather than of being the
small fire-places of the natives.

There are kangaroos on the main land but none were caught; our efforts,
both in hunting and fishing, were indeed very confined, and almost wholly
unsuccessful. What has been said of the neck of land between the head of
the port and Sleaford Mere may be taken as a description of the country
in general; it is rocky and barren, but has a sufficient covering of
grass, bushes, and small trees not to look desolate. The basis stone is
granitic, with a _super-stratum_ of calcareous rock, generally in loose
pieces; but in some parts, as at Boston Island, the granite is found at
the surface or immediately under the soil. Behind the beach, near our
watering pits, the calcareo