CHAPTER VII. 



LAND SALES UNSETTLED BOUNDARIES NEW ZEALAND — - 



HUNTER RIVER MIDNIGHT ALARM — LUDICROUS SCENE 



CHANGES IN OFFICERS OF SHIP — LEAVE SYDNEY PORT 



STEPHEN — CORROBORY GALE AT CAPE UPSTART MAG- 



NETICAL ISLAND — HALIFAX BAY — ASTONISH A NATIVE 



DESCRIPTION OF COUNTRY — CORRECT CHART — RESTORA- 

 TION ISLAND — PICTURESQUE ARRIVAL INTERVIEW WITH 



THE NATIVES FROM TORRES STRAIT — THEIR WEAPONS — 

 SHOAL NEAR ENDEAVOUR RIVER— DISCOVER GOOD PASSAGE 

 THROUGH ENDEAVOUR STRAIT — BOOBY ISLAND — NEW BIRDS 

 THE PAINTED QUAIL. 



No improvement had taken place in colonial 

 affairs, and the sales of land, in consequence of the 

 high price, were very limited. The fact was, the 

 regulations that had recently been made gave very 

 little satisfaction. By these the minimum price 

 was fixed at one pound per acre ; in consequence of 

 which many predicted that millions of acres would 

 be excluded from the market for ages to come, as it 

 seemed not conceivable that any change could make 

 them worth a quarter that sum, especially as on an 

 average the natural grasses of the countrv will onlv 



