ifty or sixty miles inland; and lastly to examine the
unknown portion of Shark Bay which lay to the southward of us.

At 6 A.M. the thermometer stood at 76 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade,
and this and the temperature during our stay in Shark Bay proves that the
climate there is very warm. Before breakfast I had wells sunk in several
places at some little distance inland in order to ascertain the nature of
the subsoil, for we were abundantly supplied with water from the lagoons.
In every instance, after digging down to the depth of from six to seven
feet through a rich loam, we reached a regular sandy sea beach and salt
water (it must however be recollected that we dug in the deepest hollows)
so that it appeared as if the whole of this flat country was a formation
left upon the shoals with which the coast is bounded; and it almost
seemed as if the sea still flowed in upon its old bed and under this
recent freshwater deposit.

Directly after breakfast I got ferried across the river to the island
lying between its two mouths, which I called Babbage Island after C.
Babbage, Esquire. This island is low and sandy in all parts except where
it fronts the sea; but on that side a row of high sandy dunes have been
thrown up. There is no very good land on it, it being almost covered with
samphire swamps and intersected by deep channels into which the sea runs;
these are nearly concealed in some places by the vegetation, which
rendered it impossible to avoid sundry falls and wettings in crossing it.
It bears a few mangroves but I saw no other trees.

The men throughout the day were occupied in watering and in making canvas
cloths for my boats to prevent the water from pouring in over the
gunwales, which were very low; and my own time was sufficiently occupied
in surveying. On my return in the evening I found Mr. Smith so much wore
cheerful and so much better that I determined to start about noon the
next day for the northward.

EXCURSION TO THE NORTH OF THE RIVER.

March 7.

I went off with a party before dawn to explore the country to the
northward of the Gascoyne. We crossed the river just above the point
where it separates into two mouths, and then struck off in a north by
east direction. Travelling about a mile after we had crossed the river we
came to seven native huts, built of large-sized logs, much higher and
altogether of a very superior description to those made by the natives on
the south-western coast. Kaiber exam