144 BOARDED BY THE POLICE OF BUNBUBT. 



The first time we visited Bunbury there were no 

 wells whence ships could procure water; so we held 

 Geographe Bay in abej-ance, knowing that we would 

 have a hundred barrels to drag through its sandy 

 road. After a week's stay we hove short, set our 

 ensign, and were boarded by the police, who here 

 act as custom-house officials. They searched the ship 

 fore and aft, above and below, as they thought — 

 although we might have had a score of the prisoners 

 stowed away, if we had been so disposed : as it was, 

 we had one forward, stowed in the forepeak, of whom 

 thev saw no trace. We carried him to Vasse, and 

 set him ashore. Their mode of search was to get 

 into the hatchway, and insert the native spears in 

 the interstices between the casks. They reviewed 

 tlie ship's company, in order to satisfy themselves 

 no interlopers were there, and then delivered up the 

 ship's papers and departed. We then set sail, 

 and, after twelve hours' beating agaiiist a light 

 lieadwind, we let go our anchor off the town of 

 Vasse, where we procured water. Here w^e had 

 several quarters of fresh beef — in Bunbury we had 

 one whole sheep. 



On the 20th, the ship Twilight came in and in- 

 formed us that the barque Mars, with numerous letters 

 for us, was on the eve of making this port. The 

 next morning she made her appearance, and her 

 stock of letters had not been over-stated, the majority 

 of our crew, myself amongst the number, receiving 

 letters that had been written only six months pre- 

 vious ; and, as all of us had good news, and plenty of 

 newspapers, we were more pleasantly employed than 



