Page:Journals of Several Expeditions Made in Western Australia.djvu/97

 rise, on our route homewards, and passing down the valley to the foot of the peak, we entered an open common, which led us to a thick and almost impenetrable forest of cable, gum, and tea trees; after struggling for nearly an hour, we succeeded in forcing our way through the most impassable part, when we came to a lagoon of salt water; we soon after fell in with another, which had a similar taste. Upon reaching the extremity of the forest, which may be four miles in breadth, we, in three miles, arrived at a hill, on which we found a rich red loam, of a yielding and pliable nature, but it did not appear to be of any great extent. We crossed before noon several grassy hills, on which we found better soil than in the valleys. We traversed, until we halted this evening, a well wooded country, which contained a considerable portion of very fine land. Not being able to find water, we were obliged, much to the annoyance of some of our party, to put ourselves upon an allowance for the night; we travelled today upwards of eighteen miles, in a W.½ N. course. In the morning, we suddenly met with a party of four natives, who, from the terror and surprise they manifested at first beholding us, evidently showed that they could never have seen Europeans before; after two of them had advanced in a hostile manner to allow the two women who accompanied them time to escape, they ran away as fast as their legs could carry them, and disappeared behind a hill.

November 3d.—We started at dawn this morning to procure water for breakfast, which we found, after passing several broad and fertile valleys, in one of which we met with excellent pasture, which appeared to be of some extent; after travelling six miles, we rested at a spot where we obtained good