ERVATIONS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH ITS INTERESTS.

CHAPTER I.

DUTIES OF AN EXPLORER--GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF SOUTH
AUSTRALIA--DESCRIPTION OF ITS COAST LINE--SEA MOUTH OF THE
MURRAY--ENTERED BY MR. PULLEN--RISK OF THE ATTEMPT--BEACHING--ROSETTA
HARBOUR--VICTOR HARBOUR--NEPEAN BAY--KANGAROO ISLAND--KINGSCOTE--CAPT.
LEE'S INSTRUCTIONS FOR PORT ADELAIDE--PORT ADELAIDE--REMOVAL TO THE NORTH
ARM--HARBOUR MASTER'S REPORT--YORKE'S PENINSULA--PORT LINCOLN--CAPT.
LEE'S INSTRUCTIONS--BOSTON ISLAND--BOSTON BAY--COFFIN'S BAY--MR. CAMERON
SENT ALONG THE COAST--HIS REPORT--POSITION OF PORT ADELAIDE.

No mariner ever shook the reefs from his sails, on the abatement of the
storm, under the fury of which his vessel had been labouring, with more
grateful feelings than those with which I turn from the dreary and
monotonous wastes I have been describing, to the contemplation of fairer
and more varied scenes. My weary task has been performed, and however
uninteresting my narrative may have proved to the general reader, I would
yet hope, that those who shall hereafter enter the field of Australian
discovery, will profit from my experience, and be spared many of the
inconveniences and sufferings to which I was unavoidably exposed. They
may rest assured, that it is only by steady perseverance and unceasing
attention, by due precaution and a mild discipline, that they will
succeed in such an undertaking as that in which I was engaged. That
unless they are fortunate enough to secure such an assistant as I had in
Mr. Browne, their single eye must be over every thing, to study the
features of the country through which they are passing, to keep their
horses and cattle always within view, to prevent disputes in their camp,
and to husband their provisions with the utmost care, to ascertain from
time to time the quantity they may have on hand, and to regulate their
consumption accordingly. Few difficulties present themselves to the
explorer in journeying down a river, for that way is smooth before him;
it is when he quits its banks, and traverses a country, on the parched
surface of which little or no water is to be found, that his trials
commence, and he finds himself obliged to undergo that personal toil,
which sooner or later will lay him prostrate. Strictly speaking, my work
should close here. I am not, however, unmindful of the suggestion I made
in my Preface, that a short notice of South Australia at the close of my
jour