Page:Journals of Several Expeditions Made in Western Australia.djvu/93

 fairly beat one of our greyhounds. At the termination of three miles from the latter water-course, we halted for the night, having accomplished fifteen miles to the eastward. The commencement of our journey was over grassy, undulating plains, tolerably well adapted for pasture. The extensive sandy downs were compared by the two Yorkshire gentlemen (who accompanied us) to the wolds in that county. The latter part of our walk lay through a thick forest, of an apparently different species of eycaliptus from any we had yet observed, the young trees growing perfectly straight, and would form, if not too heavy, fine spars for ships. The stem of the tree was fluted, and from its peculiar appearance, some of our party named it the cable gum. We procured a supply of muddy water tonight, by digging wells.

October 30th.—We followed the water course on which we encamped last night, in an E.½ S. direction for one mile, until we arrived at its source, when we again found the same style of country as yesterday, viz. sandy undulating commons, stretching for a considerable distance to the north and south; upon crossing them the country evidently changed, the surface being occasionally broken, and a greater expanse of woodland scenery being visible; from the valleys it seemed to dip or incline to the northward, in which direction, at the distance of twenty miles, was a range of elevated land, at the base of which was a broad valley. A little beyond this we followed the bed of a stream lying S.E. for one mile, and as the herbage was good, we rested our party here during the middle of the day, to refresh the horses. On the bank of this stream were two native huts, of a different, but more substantial construction, than those on the