Page:Journals of Several Expeditions Made in Western Australia.djvu/132

 The following morning, the 12th of January, on reaching it, left the men and ascended to the summit, from which nothing satisfactory could be seen; as far as the eye could reach, was one vast forest; to the S. and S.W. by W. high lands, twenty to thirty miles distant. The intermediate country presented occasional open valleys, winding between apparently moderately high hills to the eastward; in the distance, were high hills or mountains; behind the southern hills, we hoped to come to the sea, a matter now of great importance to us, as our provisions were nearly expended; we therefore, seeing, as we imagined, through the smoke and haze, sand hills bearing S.W. by W., directed our steps towards them, until the evening of the following day, making seventeen miles, when, not finding the hills we had hoped to have reached, we turned due south, determined to pursue it, until I came to the sea, as, from whatever cause, I was almost certain that we were a long distance from King George's Sound, and that, consequently, our provisions being all expended, with the exception of tea for twelve days, and a little tobacco, our very existence depended upon procuring shell-fish from the rocks. Shooting birds was very uncertain, and kangaroos more so.

On the 16th we made the coast, having for the last day, traversed as rough a country as can be imagined. We travelled two days and could only make seven or eight miles by toiling the whole day: by Mr. Smythe's observation, we were only forty three miles west of King George's Sound, but it proved to be to the eastward of Cape Chatham,—west of Nornor-up, nine miles; we had made, therefore, but about twenty miles west since turning from our S. by E. line on the 5th of January.