288 FIELD FOR ENTERPRISE. ages, many sources of wealth, and who are at this moment reaping rich rewards for their toil, while 999 out of every thousand of the European world know nothing at all about it. Nevertheless, there is yet a vast field open to the speculator, which must ever promise ample recompense for his confidence and outlay." CHAPTER XIII. AT SWAN RIVER. PLAN FOR RETURNING TO THE ABANDONED -EXCURSION NORTH-WEST COAST-WHY TO THE NORTH OF PERTHDELAY, AND BI STORY-TELLING TO NATIVES LAKES -CURIOUS SUPERSTITIONS-REVENGEFUL COMBAT AND RIVER-WILD MURDER PREVENTED-RETURN TO PERTH-EXCURSION IN SEARCH OF MR. ELLIOTT-CAUSE OF IT-THE MURRAY CATTLE-NATIVE TRACKING-CROSS THE DARLING RANGE CONDITION OF DISTANT SETTLERS ROUTE ALONG MR. ELLIOTT'S TRACKS-KILLING A KANGAROO LOSE THE TRACKS-NATIVE GRAVE-ESTUARY OF THE LESCHENAULT-MEET WITH MR. ELLIOTT-RETURN TO PERTH. On arriving at the Mauritius, I found that my stay would be unavoidably protracted from the state of my wound, which the want of rest and attention had prevented from healing during the expedition, whilst my men were still suffering under the effects of the hardships and privations they had recently been subjected to; my first step, therefore, was to discharge the Lynher, and the next to consider a plan for future operations. The rivers Fitzroy and Glenelg, simultaneously discovered by Captain Wickham and myself, although of considerable magnitude, were only sufficient to account for the drainage of a small portion 290 PROCEED TO SWAN RIVER. of the vast continent of Australia, and this interesting question, far from being placed in a clearer point of view by our expeditions, was if possible involved in deeper obscurity than ever. I was therefore anxious to return to the north-west coast, and solve the mystery that still hung over those regions; but after considering various plans and suggestions, in which I was kindly assisted by the advice and opinions of Sir William Nicolay, then Governor of the Mauritius, I was induced to forego the intention of proceeding again direct to the northwest, and to bend my course in the first instance to Swan River. There I could consult Sir James Stirling, the Governor, who had been instructed on our departure from England to afford us every assistance; and according to the means which could then be obtained, I might either proceed again by sea to the vicinity of the Glenelg or the Fitzroy; or if a proper vessel and equipments could not be had, I might endeavour to pass the range to the north-east of that colony, ascertain the direction of the streams which must be thrown off by it to the interior, and trace the main river into which they fell (if such there was) to its outlet. I accordingly embarked my party, and the stores in my possession, at Port Louis, on the 21st August, 1838, and arrived on the 18th September at Swan River, where I lost no time in communicating my views to Sir James Stirling, who concurred in the plan for returning to the north-west; and it was arranged that as soon as the colonial vessel, Cham RETURN TO THE NORTH-WEST FRUSTRATED. 291 pion, then absent on a voyage to St. George's Sound, should come back to the Swan, it should be prepared for the conveyance to Camden Bay, of myself and party, reinforced by such additional persons as might feel disposed to proceed there at their own cost for speculative purposes. It was not however until the month of December following that the Colonial schooner became disposable, and then new impediments arose from her being found so much in want of repair as to be, in Sir James Stirling's opinion, scarcely in a condition to proceed on such a voyage as we contemplated, whilst the repairs required were of a nature which could not be effected in the Colony. From these and other considerations, more especially the danger and disappointment, likely to be experienced for want of proper equipment, which it was found very difficult to supply at the Swan, in an effective and satisfactory manner, the expedition to the North-west was deemed unadvisable and for the present given up. It is unnecessary here to dwell on the mortification I felt, at being obliged thus to abandon my long cherished projects. The delays I had already experienced were sufficiently vexatious, but I had endeavoured to turn the time thus lost to some profit by endeavouring to acquaint myself with the resources of the country, as well as in acquiring information of a scientific nature, and I had attained such a knowledge of the language of the natives as enabled me to form a vocabulary of the different 292 EXCURSION TO THE NORTH OF PERTH. dialects spoken in these parts, which was printed and forwarded to England at the close of the year. My excursions into the country from Perth, whilst awaiting the arrival and fitting out of the Champion were necessarily short, but the journal of one to the northward, made in company with my young friend Mr. Frederick Smith, who afterwards fell a sacrifice in the expedition to Sharks Bay, will I think be interesting enough to be inserted here. November 30.-Mr. Smith and myself started at noon this day, accompanied by Corporal Auger, and two natives, upon a trip in a northerly direction; about 5 P. M. we reached a lake distant about fifteen miles from Perth, and called by the natives Mooloore: we halted here for the night. The horses were scarcely tethered and our fire made, when four more natives joined the party; their names were Noo-gong-oo, Kur-ral, Jee-bar, and Du-de-murry; they brought us a present of twenty-seven fresh-water tortoises, the average weight of each of which was half a pound. They said, that although the lake was called Mooloore, the name of the land we were sitting on was Doonda-lup. As soon as supper was finished they became very talkative, and, in a sort of recitative, recounted various adventures; and when they conceived that they had sufficiently entertained me, they requested me to give them an account of my adventures in the northern part of the country, where they had |