254 CAPTAIN KING. 



sfory, and revealed an entire world of feeling. 

 Never shall I forget the simple expression of 

 this new comer, whose emotions on first feeling 

 the solid earth beneath her tread, and touching a 

 remembrance of the land she had left in quest of 

 another home, will be incomprehensible to no one 

 who has crossed the ocean. 



We met several persons at Sydney from whom 

 we received valuable information, and particularly 

 Captain King, who, as the reader may recollect, com- 

 manded the first expedition on which the Beagle was 

 employed. His great scientific attainments must 

 ever attach respect to his name, and his explora- 

 tions on the Australian coast, previous to the survey 

 in which we were engaged, together with his fa- 

 ther's services as Governor of New South Wales, 

 give him and his children a lasting claim upon the 

 country. The information he furnished on this 

 and subsequent occasions was extremely valuable. 

 An observation of his gave rise in my mind to very 

 curious conjectures ; he told me that where he 

 used formerly to anchor the vessel he commanded 

 in the head of Sydney cove, there was now scarcely 

 sufficient water to float even a boat. As the de- 

 posits of the small stream that flows into it could 

 not have produced this change, I was led to ex- 

 amine the shore of the harbour, when I found 

 what seemed to me to be the marks of the sea 

 higher than its present level ; this, coupled with 

 the decrease in the soundings we found in Darling 



